Samantha’s face instantly turned bright red. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you’ve got that up all night fucking look and the way you’re eye fucking each other right now…you’re both itching to have elevator love, right here.” Then she broke out into a chorus of Love in an Elevator by Aerosmith. “Gah, just don’t get hot and heavy in front of me. Sex in an elevator is just wrong on so many levels. Get it? So many levels?”
“Yes. Very…punny,” I chuckled, stepping closer to Samantha. Screw it, Jen was right and I wanted my hands on her, now.
“Well, I usually take steps to avoid elevators, especially if someone like Kade Grayson is on the elevator. You might end up getting the shaft,” Sam whispered giggling.
Oh, it’s on. No one could play word games as well as I could. “Yes. Elevators aren’t very fun. It’s like being trapped in a box. Although I’d like to be trapped in your box, and I didn’t hear you complaining about my shaft last night.”
“Even though you think you’re pushing my buttons…you will not get a rise out of me, Mr. Grayson. Now, stop all the elevator puns, they’re driving me up a wall.”
I was dead-ass laughing. I had to think of more puns quick. “You didn’t mind when my shaft was driving you up the wall last night.”
“Yes, I recall being in between a cock and a hard place,” Sam quipped.
“Yep, the best damn cock climber I ever saw,” I smiled.
“This is like pure punishment,” she laughed.
“Well, I am the punisher,” I said, locking my eyes on hers.
“Yes, my ass still stings nicely,” she smiled. How the hell did that woman think I was going to let her walk out of my life?
The elevator doors opened to Dylan’s floor and both women exited, laughing. I had three thoughts as I watched her walk out. One, I needed a sandwich. Two, I wondered where the best hiding spot was in this hospital to fuck Samantha. And three, how the hell was I going to get her to stay in this town? I wanted her to be with me, no one else was going to have her. Period.
Creepy? Yes. Possessive? Absolutely. We all know I have issues. I. Don’t. Care. What. You. Think. I wanted her. She was the only person in this world that I had ever met that made me think differently about things.
My brother was sitting in one of those reclining hospital chairs next to a window when we walked in. The luckiest man I knew. Who else gets shot twice in a bar fight, and the bullets hit nothing important? He looked great, too. The color was back in his face, his smile was bright and they were already feeding him solid food.
“I’m so sorry that I brought trouble with me,” I heard Sam say to him as she sat softly on his bed.
“It was worth it, just to get to see my brother as much as I did, and to see him smile. I wish you’d stay.” His eyes glanced at Jennifer, “Jen told me about everything, but I still wish you’d stay here.”
“I can’t, Dylan. I can’t have any more people hurt.”
Hearing her say the words so decisively tore at my insides. Pulling up a visitor’s chair, I slumped into it and detached myself from the conversation, from the smiles and the laughter, from the world, wondering if any of this was worth fighting for.
I only registered a bit of information they discussed. Samantha wanted to change her appearance, dye her hair again, and they bickered over colors. Jennifer spoke a little about the shooter, and then there were some mentions about states like Montana and North Dakota. Then at some point, I couldn’t even tell you when or how long after we got there, Sam and Jen went to get coffee in the cafeteria and I was left alone with my brother staring at me.
“Kade, mate. Don’t let her go,” he said.
“What?” I asked, waking up from my self-induced coma.
Dylan leaned forward, clenching his face in pain and repeated, “Don’t let her go.”
“What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“Make her feel safe here. She can’t go out there on her own,” he whispered.
I laughed bitterly, “Actually, I think she can. She’s probably the only woman I ever met who could take care of herself on the run for the rest of her life.” I stood up, stretched and walked to the window. My rage lay just an inch below my surface.
“Do you care about her?” He asked.
“Bloody hell, yes,” I replied. Bending down to face him, trying desperately to hold back my anger, I sneered, “She doesn’t want to stay. End of story. I’m not a hero. I have no safety to offer her, I can’t even think of anything, except tying her up and locking her in my bloody basement.”
“Fine, Kade,” he mumbled, as the girls walked back into the room. “I guess after she leaves, I won’t be seeing you for another couple of years, huh? It was nice to have you bloody visiting.”
Samantha handed me a warm cup of coffee, but I didn’t even taste it. I just sat back down in the corner and hunkered down in my fictional thoughts, where I had more control over everything. It was easier to breathe that way.
After we left Dylan, I drove her to the store. The day had turned to night and the darkness of it lay heavily on my shoulders. “So how did you meet David?”
“Why?”
“I have the right to know,” I snapped.
“Why?”
“Because I’ve already thrown my heart out for you. Already stripped my soul bare for you, so I want the same in return. I want to know the person who is going to destroy me completely!”
“Does it make you feel better yelling at me, driving faster, gripping the wheel, clenching your teeth?” She asked.
“No.”
“Then fucking stop it. You got something to say to me, say it. Don’t yell at me because of the situation I’m in when my hands are tied.”
“Now, I’m fucking thinking of you tied up. Just tell me the story, no more games. You’re leaving right? Tell me something more!”
She turned her head to look out the window. The disregard for my feelings and her looking away cut me deeply.
“David and I developed a tumultuous relationship over one too many glasses of champagne at one of my father’s hospital parties and our affair was fast and furious. I looked at him through rose-colored glasses, complete with lens flares and animated floaty hearts. I loved him, I really did. The easiest thing in the world was falling in love with him. I fell in love so fast, head first, feet first, heart first, doesn’t matter; it’s so damn easy to fall. The hard part was where I landed in his life and how I needed to hold on to who I was. But I fell in love with a complete lie. I never really knew the person he was. Let’s just say that he and Thomas would have been a great team.”
The parking lot of the store was unusually crowded. I pulled into the only empty spot, stomped out of the truck and slammed the door as if I was throwing a tantrum. “We will finish this fucking conversation!” I snapped.
“Oh, wonderful. I can’t wait to continue. You’re so lovely to talk to about all my secrets. Just a real sensitive being, you are,” she snapped back, storming into the store.
Pushing the cart through the store, she was like a NASCAR driver, and you know it has that one fucking wheel that spins around in madness on its own accord, tripping her up and calling attention to itself with its whines. But she was determined. She was determined to get all the fucking shit she needed to change her appearance and leave me.